60 THE CHALLENGE OF THE N.W. FRONTIER
modern scale in those barren hills. They have never
threatened an invasion of India on a large scale, by
themselves, but only in the wake of an invading
army as free-booters and plunderers The constant
fighting on the Frontier, about which we hear so
often, is always local and tribal, not national. Any
military movement has been in the nature of a raid,
not of a carefully planned campaign.
It is thus an entire misconception of the true
state of affairs to picture these inaccessible border
districts as harbouring militant forces which can
only be checked by Britain holding large, highly
mechanized armies in reserve at the foot of the
Khyber Pass or in some other area. Even the tribal
supply of rifles (their only modern weapon of
precision) is precarious They have no army trans-
port, no supplies, no depots, and no money with
which to buy war material on a large scale.
Brave and reckless concerning then own lives
to an amazing degree, and proverbially hospitable in
character, they have come to the forefront of Indian
politics more on account of their key position, at
the "Gateway of India/* than because of their united
military strength. Had the Frontier problem been
merely the trouble caused by having these tribes on
the Indian border, it is probable that they would
have been left severely alone, and only been dis-
turbed in their mountain fastnesses when their raids
became too frequent: for the expense of sending
expeditions against them, with very little permanent
result, would have been blocked by the British